G-ZZZE, the most unloved 777 of all time?

It was, for me, the most important livery in the world. When I was I kid, I used to watch planes land at National Airport. It was mostly Delta 727s and USAir 727s and 737s. Those were, to me, big, impressive, luxurious jets. Then, on rare occasion, we'd go to Dulles. Dulles is where important businessmen in suits would board jumbo jets to fly to foreign countries, across the entire world. Those planes were the varsity league: Off-limits to kids, probably extremely expensive to fly, and, in my mind, a step below the Space Shuttle in terms of importance. Flying one of those planes was an important, almost historic event. And British Airways was the most important of all. After all, what is more special and important than going to London? To my knowledge as a child, the great American cities were New York and San Francisco and the great foreign *places* were London and Japan. (Hong Kong and Singapore were important places in China.) British Airways, then, was the highest-class, most significant airline in the world. From what I could tell, every British Airways plane was a 747. And the BA livery was the perfect compliment. It struck me as powerful, serious, business. Sharp lines, strong colors. When I watched my dad board it at the gate, I was proud of him. So, for a six year old with too many model planes, a BA 747 was the most awe-inducing ship on Earth.